Chasing Eden
by Lilbakasaru
Summary: Sequel to 'Being A Yakuza's Bride Its been a year but problems start to arise Naruto want independence something that Sasuke cant give and with a hotheaded cop tracking all of Sasuke's moves things wont be easy for them. Will their love survive?SasunaruAU
1. Cracks on the Wall

**Important?**

Hello everyone!

Here it is the sequel for 'Being A Yakuza's Bride', I want to thank all the people who have read my other fic, I really warmed my heart that you guys enjoyed it that much! Any new readers I would recommend reading the prequel to this, I don't think it's that necessary but some things may not make sense if the prequel isn't read.

Now to talk about some of the stuff you guys would like to read about in this chapter, or rather some of stuff you guys really don't want to see.

'_Cheating_'- technically there wont be any, but jealousy, mistakes, and accidents wont be ruled out. Just to add a little bit of drama.

'_Uzu Family'_- their involvement is something I'm not yet sure about, because if they did know about Naruto's existence they would kill him. I'll see about how I can spin it.

'_Joining the Kage Family_'- that won't happen, since Naruto is now technically 'married' (or at least he's been given the title of 'wife') to Sasuke, in a way he's part of the Uchiha family. Although there involvement may still happen.

'_Becoming a badass assassin_'- Sasuke would beat me black and blue if I let Naruto do something so dangerous.

'_Babies_'- Although this fic isn't 'mpreg', I guess adoption is a possibility. We'll see…

Oh and once again (because I got all hyped up from all of your reviews) I have drawn a picture of Sasuke and Naruto in embrace called 'Being A Yakuza's Bride'. The link as always can be found on my profile page, marked (New). Check it out!

_Beta read by Laine12777- worship her!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters**

**Warning: YAOI, Yakuza's and other crime syndicates, violence, swearing, blood, and anything else my mind can come up with.**

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Chapter 1: Cracks on the wall

_**Can we pretend that Airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?  
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now…**_

_-B.o.B feat Hayley Williams: Airplanes _

The air stunk of sex and sweat, the springs of the king-sized mattress creaking with every strenuous movement of the two people on top of it. Grinding and moving against each other in ecstasy-filled harmony.

"Sasuke-deeper, AHH!"

The raven grunted against the lithe body underneath him, pushing himself deeper inside the tight heat. Naruto moaned, gripping onto his pale lover, widening his legs apart to give Sasuke more room to move. With every thrust he rubbed against his prostate. He arched his body, hissing when his erection rubbed against Sasuke's stomach; the sensation caused bolts of electricity to go down his spine.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto…" he whispered back, loving how the tight muscles clamped around his stiff member.

He looked down at his lover, blue eyes glazed, cheeks flushed, bruised lips parted; it was a beautiful sight he thought with a smirk and leaned down, capturing his plump lips into a fierce kiss. Naruto moaned against him, his fingers digging into his back. Sasuke was almost afraid he would bleed, not that he didn't enjoy the slight pain administered, and started to quicken the pace, catching the blonde off guard.

"AAHH!" Naruto groaned as he came.

Sasuke gritted his teeth together when Naruto tightened around him, and not being able to hold back any longer, he also came with a loud grunt before collapsing down onto the blonde. Slowly he managed to roll over and pulled the blonde flush against him. They stayed like this, breathing heavily, simply embracing each other's sweaty bodies. Sasuke moved the blonde tresses away from his lover's forehead and gave an affectionate kiss. Naruto smiled and snuggled into his hard chest.

Early morning sex was something he came to enjoy over the past year since they had been together. Although today it seemed unusually early that the raven was up.

"Why did you wake me up at… _4 o'clock in the morning_?" he exclaimed indignantly, glancing at the digital wall clock.

"I have an early meeting today at 6…" Sasuke answered, nibbling along his collar bone.

"Ah," he sighed as the older man's warm fingers slowly danced down his side. "Then shouldn't you get ready?"

"Well _I_ think we should have another round," Sasuke replied, his hand slowly inching towards Naruto's flaccid cock, grasping the spent member and coaxing it back to life.

"Sasuke~" he mewled, before being silenced by a searing kiss.

(later)

Naruto leaned against the headboard, watching a freshly showered Sasuke get dressed. He had on black pressed trousers that were snug in all the right places, held up with a belt. He then reached into his wardrobe and pulled out an ironed white shirt. Naruto simply admired how the muscles on his back flexed, making the yakuza tattoo of a black leaping koi move as he put the shirt on. He couldn't help but be fascinated by the tattoo, ever since Sasuke had shown it to him when they first made love.

It was almost as if the Koi symbolized that love, persevering as it leapt up into the sky, fighting to simply exist. When they had first met it certainly wasn't as easy to understand and place those confusing feelings and emotions. Especially for Sasuke, who at first didn't even believe that love existed, and instead expressed himself with groping and molesting Naruto. The only unsightly mark on Sasuke's back would be the small circular-shaped scar on his left shoulder, a bullet wound.

Whenever Naruto saw it he would be reminded of the time he almost lost Sasuke, when he saw the man fall to the dirty ground in a pool of his own blood. Sometimes when Sasuke slept (and he could sleep like the dead when needed) he would delicately trace the mark, feeling the bumpy texture under his finger, wondering if it still hurt.

As if feeling eyes on him, slowly the Uchiha turned around and gave Naruto a smile as he put a tie on. "Like what you see?" he asked with a smirk.

"I think you already know that," Naruto replied.

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle; he grabbed his Armani suit and slowly sauntered towards him, "What, no breakfast?"

"Teme," Naruto snorted back. "You wore me out and now you want to eat something?" he asked in disbelief and lay back down on the bed, exhausted.

Sasuke smiled and leaned down to brush away his blonde hair. "You got anything planned today?" he asked, brushing his thumb over Naruto's scarred cheeks.

"I'm meeting Iruka today for breakfast," the blonde replied, leaning into Sasuke's touch.

"That's good; I don't think I'll be back until dinner," he said and leaned down to press his lips against Naruto's, who hummed into the kiss. But the tiredness was catching up to him and before he knew it he was already asleep.

Sasuke gave one last smile, grabbed his suitcase and left their apartment.

The next time Naruto woke up he found himself in an empty apartment; vaguely he remembered something about Sasuke's meeting. It seemed like he had more meetings every day, coming back home late. It was kind of lonely. Not that he could do much about that now, he thought with a sigh. At least he would get to spend the day with Iruka; all of his other friends were extremely busy with their own lives.

It seemed like he was the only one these days who was living the so-called 'easy life'…

…and what a bore it was.

He'd never lived like this before, lounging around in this humongous apartment, watching daytime TV, playing games on the numerous consoles, or sleeping in an empty bed. It was a lazy lifestyle, one he'd never gotten used to. He was used to being active, going out every day to work, hanging out with his friends and not being cooped in this huge apartment that somehow managed to feel quite claustrophobic.

That was all going to change now though; the past few months he had been secretly taking up courses so that he could refine his skills, and today he was going for an interview with Iruka for a assistant teaching position at _Ritoru Sakura__Yōchien_ (Little Blossoms Kindergarten). Teaching was one of the things he always wanted to do but never had been confident enough to take the opportunity. However after what happened to him in Taiwan he learned that life was too damn short not to take a chance.

Yeah he did lie to Sasuke about the whole breakfast thing, but if he told the raven what he was really going to do, he would only be denied. Sasuke didn't really like the idea of Naruto working, mostly because he worried too much about his safety. Yet it wasn't like anything bad could happen if he was working as a Kindergarten teacher, right?

So he threw the covers off him, flinching when he felt the sharp twang of pain going down his spine. Naruto grit his teeth together and growled. That Teme! Always being so damn fucking rough with him.

Naruto ignored the pain and the dry flakes of cum, and stepped into the shower fiddling with the taps until he got the right temperature. A sigh left him when he felt the warm water go down his back, soothing the tight knots so that he was relaxed. He picked up the shampoo, squirting the scented soap into his hands and started mussing up his hair, then washed the suds out. Then he used the moisturising soap to scrub away the grime and evidence of sex off his body.

When finished, he grabbed a fluffy white towel out of the cubby and started drying his hair and body, before rummaging through his closet for some decent formal clothes. Naruto wanted to look nice for his interview; after all it would be good for his image. Sure Naruto didn't want to get his hopes up. With his background he really didn't expect too much.

With a sigh he grabbed his keys and jacket and left the apartment, locking the door behind him, then took the long elevator ride down to the lobby. The porter greeted him as he went out in the busy Tokyo streets. It was late March, meaning that the first April school term was just around the corner, so he wanted to get the job by the beginning of the first term. He hoped Iruka would have enough influence to represent his case.

Naruto daydreamed the possibilities as he walked through the busy streets, dodging past late commuters as he made his ways to Iruka's apartment. The brunette's apartment block soon came into view; he took the stairs easily enough up to the second floor and knocked upon Iruka's door. After a few minutes the older man finally opened the door; he was only half-dressed with the shirt in his hand. Iruka smiled and opened the door wider to let Naruto in.

"It's great to see you again Naruto, come in, come in, how are things with Sasuke?"

"Ah you know, same, same," he answered and stepped inside the medium-sized apartment.

Iruka's place, unlike Sasuke's, was always cozy, warm, and inviting. Sasuke's place somehow managed to remain sterile no matter how hard Naruto worked too bring some colour in. The living room was cream coloured, there was a large chocolate-brown three-seater sofa and love seat surrounding a coffee table, and in front of that there was a window with a potted plant on the sill. There were sets of photos all around the room, most of them with Naruto and Iruka together from when the blonde was still in school, and a couple of Naruto with his friends.

"You nervous?" Iruka asked.

You could say that again; as excited as he was about the prospect of finally having some independence, he was worried about the 'what if's', and he hated how even though he was so close to getting what he wanted the uncertainty was unnerving. Then there was also the problem with Sasuke; he hadn't really told his lover anything about what he was doing, mostly because he knew exactly how the raven would react. Naruto still distinctively remembered how that 'talk' had gone.

"_You're not going back to being a waiter."_

"_I didn't-"_

"_There really isn't a need for you to get a job, I make more than enough money to support both of us without any problems, so what need would there be of you getting a job?" he replied, not looking up from the stack of documents._

"_So you just want me to sit here and do nothing?" he asked._

"_Not exactly, there are plenty of hobbies you can take up."_

Yeah… hobbies… Naruto couldn't help but feel like a bored housewife being told by her 1950's husband to stay at home, looking after the three kids while making dinner.

He didn't bring it up again.

"Ready to go?" Naruto looked up and saw Iruka standing in front of him all dressed up.

"Yeah…" he replied with a shaky voice.

"Don't be nervous Naruto; hey, how about after the interview I'll take you out for a bite to eat."

Funny, now they were actually going to do what he told Sasuke he was going to do. "Sure, where to?"

"Oh this new café opened up nearby, I heard they make excellent continental breakfast. I thought it would be something different."

"Wow, haven't had western food in ages!" Sasuke preferred traditional Japanese food, and sometimes Naruto was ready to kill for a Big Mac…

He jumped up excitedly and followed Iruka as they left the apartment and back into the busy streets. They chatted excitedly to each other; it was the only way for Naruto to stop spazzing out with barely-suppressed excitement. And when the school finally came into view he came to an absolute standstill. Kami, this is so fucking messed up! It was just a nursery but right now it was so damn daunting. In the end Iruka had to push him inside with a fierce shove.

They signed into the reception and waited for the principle to meet them; she was a thin woman with big glasses and tightly curled greying hair. She had a kind face, slight wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, wearing a pinstriped suit. Her name was Hayashi Azarni, and she seemed like a nice enough woman, even though those glasses made her look like a praying mantis.

Iruka stayed behind, waving him good luck while he followed the Principle up to her office; she gestured for him to sit down before going down to sit at her desk. She picked up a few papers; one of them looked like his resume, and started reading through it again. It was like déjà vu… this reminded him of the first time he met Kakashi when working at Club Tengoku.

They started a general discussion about his resume, where he reviewed his skills and educational background.

"Well your resume is quiet colourful, Uzumaki-san," she commented, with a slight nervous tint in her voice.

Naruto couldn't help but blush. "Ah yes, but I have settled down and have been working hard to improve my education and my personal skill-set."

"I can see that, I'm quite impressed by the improvements that you've made," she replied with a wide smile. "And Umino-san has been telling me great things about you, especially how well you worked with the children in his class."

Kami he was glad he had Iruka there to speak on his behalf.

"But Uzumaki-san, you do understand that working with 4-year-olds is completely different from 10 to 11-year-old children, right?" she asked.

"Of course I understand, but I do feel I have a lot of experience handling children, and I have always excelled at problem solving."

She smiled and glanced down at the papers again. "You understand your contract, don't you? It is a temp contract, for the first term; you will be working under a senior staff member who will be evaluating your performance. Depending on how well you do we will give you a permanent position, understood?"

"Yes, yes of course," he quickly said, wow did that mean what he thought it did?

"Good, then welcome aboard Uzumaki-san, you will start at the beginning of the term, I'll be happy to see you there," she said happily, clapping her hands excitedly. If Naruto didn't feel the need to remain composed he would have jumped and done a little dance on her table.

He thanked Principle Hayashi as she led him back to the reception room where Iruka was waiting for him. The man's brown eyes twinkled knowingly; of course Iruka would know, the man always had a weird way of predicting things. They thanked the Principle one more time with a bow and left the school.

"See Naruto, you were nervous for nothing," Iruka teased.

"I know, I know, but I couldn't have done it without your help," he replied bashfully.

"I guess, but I did want to ask one thing… does Sasuke know?" he suddenly asked.

Naruto sighed, sometimes Iruka was really too perceptive for his own good. "No… I know how he'll react."

"But you're doing something respectable now, not just a simple waiter anymore. It's not like you'll be in any danger working as a Kindergarten teacher."

"But he's so damn paranoid about everything, I mean last time I went out to a bar with Kiba, and Chouji then Juugo showed up out of nowhere and stuck with me for the rest of the night. It was a nightmare!" Not to mention awkward and embarrassing. As if he was 4 years old again, and that silly social worker lady was chasing him around with wet wipes…

Iruka laughed when he saw the dejected expression on Naruto's face; gently he steered the blonde through the crowded streets. Soon of course Naruto pushed all of his worries to the back of his mind when his stomach reminded him how hungry he was. He really wanted something to eat.

The café wasn't too far away; it was a nice, quaint place. Kinda reminded him of one of those French café's, there where chairs and tables outside. A balcony was at the top with pillars supporting them, with painted metal vines twined around the structure. In the middle there was a sign hanging down from a chain on either side, and in elegant cursive writing was the name of the Café, _Le panier de fleurs (The Flower basket). _

Not that he knew what those French words meant. There were flowers all over the place, cut ones in vases, hanging ones from baskets, and inside some random ones decorating the frames of watercolour paintings. The place looked expensive, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, cream walls that had more painted Ivy crawling up the walls. The floor was Turkish carpet, and there was a serene ambiance in the air provided by the gentle piano tune in the background.

"Can you actually afford this place, Iruka?" he asked unsurely.

Iruka was somewhat affronted by the question. "I wouldn't take you here unless I could afford it."

"Just saying… this place looks really expensive…"

The brunette raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You'd be surprised, now sit down," he said and pushed Naruto down to sit at a nearby table, and then sat down in the chair opposite him.

A waiter soon came over, a petite brunette with a button-up shirt, black slacks and with a small apron tied around his waist. "Are you ready to order?" he asked with a pleasant voice.

"No not yet, but could you get us both some Twinings' Earl Grey tea?" the waiter nodded, and left through a set of double doors at the back of the restaurant.

Naruto picked up the menu lying on the table, surprised at how reasonable the prices were, especially if the food looked anything like the pictures in his menu. He licked his lips, and finally decided upon scrambled eggs on toast, with fried bacon. After a couple of minutes the petite waiter came back with a laden silver tray; there were two china cups, a steaming teapot, a small cup of cubed sugar, and a jug that held milk. Carefully the waiter put it down on the table, and then took their orders before he left again.

"Are you going to tell Sasuke?"

"Eh… I guess I have to, he'll find out one way or the other, better coming from me than one of his many little 'brothers'," he replied with a sigh. "Fuck, I'm crazy…" he muttered, taking a sip of his tea.

"Language Naruto, but I don't think your crazy, it's better to be truthful to your partner," he nodded wisely.

Naruto snorted, as if being truthful with his 'lovely' partner would make this situation any better.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Sasuke raised his hand to stifle the yawn; maybe he shouldn't have had that last romp with Naruto. He was now even more tired than before, having only had five hours of sleep really didn't sit well with him. Dark eyes watched the city fly past him from the tinted window of his limo; this early in the morning there was hardly any traffic, which was good since he was already late. Kakashi sat beside him, donned in a crisp black business suit, silver hair hanging limply from the side of his head, and the usual surgical mask covering half of his bored face.

They had driven almost halfway across town, just to reach Sharingan Corp., the family business that Itachi had now taken over. By all rights Sasuke was holding up to the deal he had made with his brother when he asked for the older man's help. Sasuke tried to spend more time with the 'family', even agreeing to a partial merger of their two companies. Now it seemed like he was suddenly at his brother's beck and call, and in the end it started affecting his relationship with Naruto.

He knew that the blonde was starting to feel lonely; he could see the dullness in his blue eyes, as if the spark was slowly starting to fade. As soon as these negotiations with his brother were done he would make it up to Naruto, but for now there seemed very little he could actually do. Sasuke sighed and used his hand to rub the bridge of his nose in hopes of easing the stress. He blinked in confusion when he noticed that the limo had come to a stop.

"Uchiha-sama, we're here," came the driver's voice.

"Hn," he replied back, but didn't move. He waited for Kakashi to first step out, taking no mind as he rounded the limo until he stopped at Sasuke's door and opened it for him. Usually he wouldn't have it, but this was plainly for the sake of image.

Wearily he stepped out of the limo, squinting as the harsh sun hit his face. Sasuke didn't take notice as Kakashi closed the door behind; instead he just walked up to the building, but stopped when something caught his eye. He couldn't help but smirk when he noticed a young dark-haired man trying to seem inconspicuous, but only managed to stand out even more.

"Are you following me, detective?" he called out in a mocking tone.

The man flinched, his shoulders went rigid, and Sasuke's smirk grew when he heard the muttered string of curses coming off the other man. Slowly the man turned around, his black eyes staring almost nervously back at Sasuke.

Morino Idate, a young detective working in the Tokyo prefecture. He had long black hair that was tied into a tight ponytail; he had a smooth face, slanted dark eyes that had almost a mischievous appeal to them, kinda reminding him of Naruto's. He wore a shabby grey suit; there was a faded ink stain on his breast pocket, with some darker stains on his navy blue tie, combined with a plain white shirt and un-ironed slacks.

Really, the man at first glance appeared like a disgrace to the police force. Yet no matter how shabby the detective may look, he was the ambitious kind, always looking for a way to promote himself, and right now he was the little detective's target. He had been chasing Sasuke for years now, trying to pin one thing after the other on him. Without any luck of course.

Idate took a deep breath as if to steady himself before turning around and regarding Sasuke with a bit more confidence.

"Oh, nothing of the sort Uchiha, I was simply passing through," he replied. "Unless you are planning to do something illegal, in which case I may just have to arrest you!" then he gave a sly smile.

Sasuke snorted, "Nothing of the sort, detective Morino; I'm simply here on business."

Idate arched an eyebrow. "With your brother? I didn't think you were that close."

Sasuke's smirk slowly turned into a scowl, that detective always did his damn research sometimes a little too well. "You really don't know me that well, detective…" he snapped.

Idate grinned when he recognized that he'd hit a sore point, he just loved riling the young Uchiha up. "Oh I don't know Uchiha, I think I pegged you down to a tee," he replied snidely and then walked away, leaving an infuriated Uchiha behind.

It was only after he had walked around the corner and away from the other man's hateful gaze, that he finally released the shuddered breath he was holding in. As cocky as Idate tried to act, that Uchiha scared the shit out of him. He was a powerful man, and no matter what kind of conviction was thrown at him, no matter how much evidence he had staked against that man, Sasuke always managed to somehow get out of it scot-free.

Even now, he was risking a lot even going near the Uchiha. Idate had gotten plenty of warnings from his chief to stay away from Sasuke and simply let the matter be, but Idate couldn't. That Uchiha rubbed him the wrong way, since the first time he saw that guy at the policeman's ball of all places. Standing there all smug in his designer suit, and champagne glass. All the female officers flocked towards him like a moth to a flame, and he simply ignored them. Yet one thing was for sure, that guy was yakuza.

At that time Idate himself had only been a junior detective, fresh in his newfound responsibility, and on that night he had accidently bumped into Sasuke. Spilling his own wine a little, and that guy just tuned around, and gave him that 'look', as if he was just an insignificant speck of dust. Then Sasuke simply walked past him without accepting Idate's apology.

Idate had never been the obsessive kind, but since that day he couldn't help but be curious about the Uchiha. His curiosity was only stirred when he noticed the amount of times that the 'Uchiha' name kept on cropping up during investigations. Arms smuggling, drug trafficking, gang crime, and prostitution rings. Yet the name was only whispered somewhere in the background so that most would simply not even notice it.

But Idate did, and he did not let it go.

Man he could use some coffee now; he was about to cross the street when the phone in his pocket vibrated. Idate fumbled through his Jacket 'til he found the cellular device and pressed it against his ear.

"Where the fuck are you?" came the stern voice from the other side.

"Yamato," came his nervous reply. "Didn't think your sweet voice would be calling me."

"Drop the bullcrap," Yamato replied with exasperation. "You should have been here ages ago, the Chief is more than ready to chew your lazy ass out."

Idate winced, he knew that Yamato wasn't joking. "I'll be there in 15 min, try an' cover for me."

"I've been covering for you all fucking day, what the hell are you doing anyway?"

"Just following up on a lead…"

"Uchiha?" he asked, but Idate didn't reply which was more than enough of an answer.

"Fuck man, have you forgotten what the Chief said?"

"I know, I know, 'stay away from Uchiha'," he replied with a sigh. "But listen, he's been meeting his older brother, just like that, out of the blue!"

"And…?"

"Well duh, they haven't been talking for years, and now all of the sudden they are having regular meetings; don't you think that's suspicious?"

"No, now get your ass moving Idate, stop obsessing over Uchiha," there was a click and the line went dead. Idate looked down at his mobile and flicked it shut. Goddamnit, no one ever listened!

Until he got something concrete no one ever would. He pocketed his phone and rushed to his car, he had to get back to headquarters quickly or he would be in real trouble.

* * *

_So how was it? Good, bad, so disastrous that you want to gouge your eyes out with spoon?_

_Do tell._

_Review and join the dark side we have cookies!_


	2. Arguments and loneliness

_Hi again,_

_I'm sorry for not updating in a while, I've been under enormous stress to finish up work and projects and have hardly had any free time. I can literally feel myself burning up, been so tired recently. Not only that but I keep forgetting I have other fics that I also need to focus on, oh man what a terrible author I have been. Hopefully I can get back into to the game soon, I hate leaving my stuff unfinished._

_(if this fic reads badly, apology to that, I haven't really been in the mood to bring myself to write)_

_Beta read by Laine12777_

_**Questions to be answered (because I confuse people):**_

_The Kage Family: I'm sorry for the confusion the family will be involved, but Naruto's actual involvement (like taking over the family business etc) wont happen._

_Marriage: By Yakuza law Naruto is 'married' to Sasuke, and so has the 'big sister' title for any of the other members , but not by another legal means._

_Adoption: it may happen, sorry no mpreg._

_Why Idate?: Why not him? I got nothing against his character, and even though he only appeared a short time in the anime he was attention grabbing enough. Not to mention a stubborn guy, also his brother will be included._

_Itachi/Kyuubi relationship?: Wont happen sorry, Itachi is devoted to Deidara, and the little firecracker would kill Itachi if he found out he was being cheated on._

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Chapter 2: Arguments and loneliness

The sun was just rising over the horizon when Idate came home; he knew he had overdone it again with work. Well he had to; the Chief was not happy, not happy at all. After getting berated for almost half an hour for coming in late again for the fifth time in a row, he was forced to his desk and catch up on all the paperwork he had missed. To be honest he didn't think he had missed that much paperwork. That was before he saw the state of his desk; it was literally heaving with all that crap.

Now he was late getting back, with a tired sigh he unlocked the front door to his apartment and stepped inside.

"Ah, Idate-san, you're finally back," came a light voice.

The man looked up and gave the young woman in front of him a smile. "Apologies Ayame-san, I know I said I would come back earlier but-"

"It's fine Idate-san, I was happy to help out!" Ayame interrupted. She was a sweet girl, actually the daughter of his landlord, and often babysat his son Kiyoshi. She was a petite college girl, black hair tied up in a lose ponytail, and a pale soft-featured face.

"How was he?" Idate knew that Kiyoshi could be difficult, he was too silent, terribly shy, and had been like this ever since…

Ayame sighed heavily. "Not too good, he refused to eat his dinner, and wouldn't go to bed until you came back. Eventual he did fall asleep, but…" she didn't have to elaborate further, Idate knew where she was going with this.

"It's alright Ayame, thank you again."

"Okay Idate-san, I've got to go now," she said, giving him another sweet smile, and picked up her bags and got ready to leave.

"Thank you again Ayame, greet your father for me!" he waved her off as she left his apartment.

Now to handle another problem. Idate took off his jacket, and threw the garment and his tie over a chair. Quietly he walked over to his son's bedroom door and slowly opened it to peek inside. It was quiet, the nightlight still on. His gaze dropped to the small bundle sleeping on the bed, the teddy bear print duvet tucked up to his chin so that only his head was peeking out. Wavy brown hair crowned that sleeping cherub face, and out of habit he was sucking his thumb.

Idate stepped inside, avoiding the toys littered on the carpeted ground; he looked down at his son Kiyoshi. The boy looked so small in the bed; he reached down and ran his hands through the soft hair. The boy moved with a sigh, and his big eyes fluttered open to reveal honey brown eyes to look up at him.

"Daddy?" came his soft voice. The little boy sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes with his hands.

"Hey Kiyoshi… I heard that you were waiting for me again all night, and making things difficult for Ayame-chan."

Kiyoshi had his head bowed, looking down at his patterned covers. "I don't like her," he murmured.

"Kiyoshi…" Idate sighed and sat down on the bed beside his son. "Don't be like that."

"But I don't like her, I hate her, I HATE HER, HATE HER!" the little boy shouted, slamming his hands against the covers. Idate quickly intervened, grabbing his hands to stop the boy from being hurt himself. When the brunette still didn't calm down Idate grabbed the smaller boy around his waist and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"Please Kiyoshi, please…"

The boy buried his head into the folds of Idate's clothes. "I hate her, I want mommy, where is mommy…?" he mumbled.

"Shhhhhh, it's okay, it's okay…" it broke his heart when he saw Kiyoshi like this. But there was nothing he could do to make it right, he had apologized so many times before. Tried to explain why his mother 'left' them, but there was nothing at all he could do.

Nothing at all…

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Three days.

It had taken him three days to work up the courage to finally tell Sasuke.

The apartment was pristine; he had spent all morning vacuuming, scrubbing, and had changed the sheets of their bed. Naruto had worked his ass off in the Kitchen making all of Sasuke's favourite dishes, Eggplant and Tomato Salad, rice, fried tofu, mackerel, and a side of shio-zuke (salt pickles). All this washed down with some expensive, aromatic red wine. Yeah he went all out on this dinner, anything to keep the raven happy.

Sasuke had just sent him a text saying that he would be home in ten minutes, so he had just enough time to set the table. He had already showered and worn some of his nicer clothes.

It was in the middle of lighting candles when he suddenly heard the jingling of keys, and the creak of the door opening. Naruto literally sprang up like a meerkat, glancing in the same direction of the door. He almost froze with fear at the sight of Sasuke entering the apartment, briefcase in hand, and toeing off his shoes.

"Tadaima Naruto," he called out tiredly. Slowly he looked around the lounge, surprised at how immaculate everything looked. Sasuke sniffed, licking his lips at the delicious scent in the air.

Naruto had cooked dinner.

With slight trepidation he put his bag down on the sofa and walked past the wall partition and into the kitchen/dining area. His dark eyes widening when he saw the spread laid out on the table; it was all of his favourite foods, and his little lover was dressed up more than alluringly. Skinny jeans, tight in all the right places, a light orange shirt with a few buttons left undone to show off a sliver of tanned skin.

Instantly the Uchiha was suspicious…

It was obvious by Naruto's body language that the blonde was more than nervous; he as biting his bottom lip, blue eyes darting around the room anxiously, and he was wringing that napkin to the point of ripping it. He frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side to survey the scene in front of here.

"What is going on?" he asked.

Naruto flinched but quickly reacted. "What? What makes you think something is going on? I just thought you'd like something nice to eat after a hard day's works, that's all!" he said just a bit too quickly.

Yeah… not suspicious at all.

"Okay, I'll believe that," he replied and sat down at the dining table.

Naruto nodded and sat down as well; he kept his head bowed as picked up the chopsticks and started on his own dinner. Occasionally Sasuke would look up, confusion written evidently on his handsome face. Naruto cooking dinner was nothing new, but what was disconcerting was how much effort the blonde had put into today. Glancing around the place he noticed it was flawlessly clean, and candles were lit to provide a romantic atmosphere. For a while he had to wonder if he'd forgotten an anniversary or something, but no, he was sure that this was about something else.

He was certain that Naruto was trying to butter him up for something, he had done this before when he really wanted that Xbox 36-something, and all those games that came with that infernal machine.

So what could Naruto need now?

It wasn't as if Sasuke minded buying Naruto things, he loved providing for his lover, but really anything that took Naruto's attention away from himself should be banned. That box contraption had been declared his enemy. Slowly he grasped the cool wine class between his fingers and took a sip of the liquid, all the time regarding the blonde man in front of him and making the other feel uncomfortable.

"What?" Naruto finally asked, not being able to take the staring anymore.

"I can't help but wonder what you want?"

"What I want?" he asked, sitting up straight in his seat. "Why would I want something?"

Sasuke just gave him a look, and it wasn't just any look, it was _the _'look'. A smug expression mixed with an all-knowing gaze which soon caused the blonde to sweat. Sasuke knew, he _knew! _Okay he most likely didn't, but he _knew_ something and that was enough to unsettle him. Fuck, what to do, what the hell was he meant to do?

Too late now, panic had already set in, and just like that he broke down.

"Alright!" he said, slamming his hands down on the table. "Okay you got me, there is something I have to tell you…"

"…And?"

The blonde bit his bottom lip uncertainly, glancing around the dining area at anything else but Sasuke. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"I can't promise that Naruto," he replied seriously, putting his chopsticks down on the table.

Naruto sighed, of course the teme couldn't. "I got a job."

Sasuke frowned quizzically. "I thought we talked about this…" he trailed off angrily.

"But you don't understand-"

"No, _**you**_don't understand, Naruto. I told you already that there wasn't any need for you to get a job, I make more than enough money for both of us, so why would you bother with that?"

"Listen-"

Yet Sasuke didn't; he continued on with his rant. "Especially when you want to go back to being a waiter! I can't help but wonder what could be so badly wrong with you that would go back to such a degrading profession."

"Hey, I know it wasn't such a-" he tried to defend. True he might not have enjoyed being a waiter, but it earned a living and he had been happy with that. Only he was cut off by Sasuke's sharp tone again.

"It's like you don't understand the concept of listening, I told you to get a hobby, and now you tell me that you got another life."

Okay, now Sasuke made it sound like he had cheated on the older man or something, as if he was moonlighting as a prostitute or something worse. He had enough.

"YOU PRICK!" Naruto shouted, throwing his chopsticks at Sasuke before springing up from his seat and storming out of the room.

Sasuke didn't even realize what happened, and the next thing he heard was the sound of the front door slamming shut. He looked around the room and then at the half-eaten meal; with a heavy sigh he rested his elbows on the table to cradle his head.

Today was not his day.

Iruka had been making himself some tea when the doorbell rang. He wondered who it could have been so late at night. Wearily he put his cup down on the counter and walked towards the door, he pressed himself against it to look through the peephole. A gasp escaped him when he saw the blonde man standing on the other side. Quickly he wrenched the door open, and before he could say anything Naruto jumped into his arms for a fierce hug.

"Naruto?"

"He didn't listen, he didn't even bother listening to me!" came the blonde's muffled cry.

Iruka's shoulder sagged and he sighed out sadly. "Oh Naruto… come inside. I made some tea, and we'll talk about it."

The blonde sniffled and gave a slight nod, letting the older brunette man lead him inside his cozy apartment where he sat Naruto down on the couch and hurried towards the kitchen to make another cup of tea. When he came back the blonde had curled himself up on the couch and was staring numbly at the blank wall. Iruka sighed and placed the steaming cup on the coffee table before joining the young man on the couch.

"I guess he didn't take it too well?" he started, toeing the line to make sure it was safe to tread.

"He didn't even listen 'Ruka…" Naruto sniffled again, wiping his runny nose against his sleeve. "He made it sound like I was cheating on him, that bastard!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it, and I know you don't mean to call him that either…"

"Doesn't change the fact that he can such a dick!"

"Can't take the Yakuza out of people Naruto, you knew that when you fell in love with him."

"Yeah well, sometimes I wonder if I should have…" he murmured sadly.

"Naruto…"

"Please 'Ruka… could I just stay here for a while?"

"Of course Naruto, you know that you're always welcome here," he replied, pulling the blonde into a hug, comforting the younger man just like he used to when Naruto was younger.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Sasuke threw a stack of folders in the 'out' pile with a frustrated sigh; Naruto hadn't come back home. Two days had already passed and so far no calls or texts to simply even say where he was. Well not that Sasuke didn't already know where he was, his contacts had told him that Naruto was with Iruka. But he still expected a call.

After Naruto had stormed out it felt weird cleaning up alone, not hearing his happy chatter in the background, or having the ball of sunshine cuddle up to him in bed and steal all the covers. The warmth he exuded and the way Naruto simply made him feel.

Sasuke missed it.

It was his own fault really, Sasuke knew that he had overstepped a line and dented the blonde's pride, so the obvious answer would be to apologize. However he was a stubborn person, just like Naruto, so there was no way he would be the first one to grovel back.

He would wait of course, if there was one thing Sasuke had it was an infinite amount of patience. He would wait until Naruto came back to his senses, and then punish his little lover until the other couldn't move anymore.

Sasuke smirked at the dirty thoughts invading his mind.

"I hope you're not having any inappropriate thoughts while working, Sasuke," instantly the smirk on his face was wiped off.

That voice would get rid of any hard-on for a week.

He looked up to meet his brother's gaze, the older man standing arrogantly in the doorway to his office. Sasuke had gotten his own office in Sharingan Corp., unfortunately it was right next to Itachi's, and the older man seemed to make it his mission to bother Sasuke whenever he wanted.

"Don't you have anything better to do, Itachi?" Sasuke snapped back, greatly irritated that the mood had been ruined. He tried to go back to his paperwork in an attempt to ignore his brother's presence.

"Oh, I have some free time, so I thought I'd say 'hi'," Itachi replied and stepped inside the office, closing the door behind him.

"'Hi', now leave please," but Itachi ignored the obvious quip and instead sauntered towards Sasuke's desk, who was still ignoring him, and sat down opposite him.

Sasuke felt his eye twitch, but he didn't look up from his work to acknowledge Itachi; he knew what his brother was doing. He was trying to get under his skin, he used to do this every time they were younger, and sadly it was working. The room was silent except for the fast scribbling sound of the pen against paper, the creaking of the chair that Itachi was sitting on, and the gentle hum of the A/C. It was starting to irritate him.

Finally he slammed the pen down and glared at the older man, who was simply smiling at him. "What do you want?" he asked.

Itachi's smile grew. "Mother is planning a little dinner and she has asked me to invite you, of course she wants you to bring your little 'wife' along too."

Sasuke bit his bottom lip; mother had been wanting to have a proper chat with Naruto ever since he had made the mock announcement about the blonde being his fiancé. He had been trying to avoid it, knowing that Naruto wouldn't really be comfortable around his family (not that Sasuke was either), but also because of his father. Who knew what Fugaku would do, what silly insults he would throw at his Naruto; Sasuke wouldn't let that happen.

"I'll think about it; is that all? Or is there something else you need to talk about?"

"No, no, you can go home now, I'm sure that your little lover is starting to feel quite lonely while you're at work," he said and left the office.

Sasuke sighed and looked down at his papers.

"You have no idea…"

**(At Iruka's)**

The night stretched on forever for Naruto, here, sleeping alone in a bed, watching the silver disk in the sky. He had gotten so used to sleeping with Sasuke that it felt odd without him being by his side, even if he was late Naruto would stay awake and wait for him. He would always wait. For a moment he couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke was feeling the same way right now? Or was the teme so mad that he moved on?

Naruto didn't think he would, but a part of him, the bitter part, knew what a player the older man had been before they met. He still remembered that sleazy Kimimaro rubbing up to Sasuke at the club. Well they may have not been together then, but it was still the principal of things. But he had changed for him, Sasuke had changed for Naruto. He wouldn't be so cruel to completely discard him, would he?

No, Sasuke wouldn't do that, not after everything they went through.

Naruto sat up in his bed, picking up his phone from the bedside table to look at the time. 1 a.m.; Sasuke was probably home by now. He ran his thumb over the smooth surface of his touch phone, skipping through his contacts until he came upon Sasuke's personal number. Then he hesitated, his thumb hovering a few millimetres above the surface, wondering if he should press it. In the end his thumb went down, and it started to dial.

He pressed the cold surface against his ear and waited…

….

Sasuke jumped when he heard the phone ringing; in the end he had brought the rest of work back home with him. He knew he couldn't sleep, at least not alone in the bed, so he had decided to keep working to keep himself occupied. So he hadn't expected anyone to call him. He picked up his mobile and undid the lock on it, his dark eyes widening when he saw Naruto's ID.

With shaky fingers he touched the screen and pressed the phone against his ear. "Naruto?"

There was silence on the other side of the line, but when Sasuke listened close enough he could hear the blonde's shuddered breathing. "Naruto, talk to me."

"Don't be mad," came a quick reply, and there was a click and the line went dead.

Sasuke stared at the phone; he sighed, lying back against the bed.

"How can I ever be mad at you, dobe."

* * *

_Review and join the Dark side we have cookies._


	3. Childish delights

_Hello everyone sorry for the long wait, really I do mean it. Things just have been a little bit to much for my first year at Uni and I needed to focus on that. Sadly I was working so hard with minimal breaks that I managed to injure my wrists (twice at that). Carpel-tunnel, at the early stages. _

_Since then I had been stressed with meeting deadlines and work. So much so that I was making myself physically ill. When the summer holiday came along I had so much work to catch up on, all of my writing took a (very long) back seat. But now I'm back and hopefully I should be able to handle the updates more regularly, but I really do apologies for taking so long to update. Please do forgive me._

_Beta read by __Kuro Mitsu (formerly Laine12777)_

_**Some had requested mpreg, and I have thought about it I just don't think it would right in this fic. The thing is that being pregnant would make Naruto really vulnerable like in the prequel. I want to give our feisty blonde a back-bone in this one, and make him less simpering. But I am willing to make another Yakuza fic that includes mpreg if people would like that.**_

* * *

Chapter 3: Childish delights

The day started off pretty bad for Sasuke; when he woke up that morning on the fifth day of their separation he did the usual thing. Half-asleep he reached out beside him on the large king-sized bed only to find the area cold and not slept in. After staring at the empty spot his lover used occupied for a while, he would finally decide to get out of bed. A task he hated doing since it would mean leaving the bed that still lingered with Naruto's scent.

Then almost robotically he would get himself washed and cleaned up, before getting dressed. By now Naruto would have made him breakfast; staying home a lot meant he had to keep himself busy, he taught himself how to cook, and it turned out he was pretty good at it as well. Since then he was used to coming home to a warm home cooked meal. A weary sigh left Sasuke's body as he picked up his cup of coffee; he hadn't heard from Naruto since that short phone call, and to say that the loneliness was getting to him was an understatement.

Everything just felt too cold.

Draining his coffee, he put the empty cup in the sink, reminding himself to wash it when he got back. With one last look at his empty apartment he closed the door behind him, not surprised to find Kakashi waiting for him on the other side. The older man nodded at him, the surgical mask still covering half his face.

"Morning Kakashi, anything new?"

"If you're talking about Naruto, it seems today is his first day at his new job."

Ah yes, the damned 'job', the reason the whole fight started. Sasuke's already rotten mood just got worse. "Did you finally find out what it is?"

"Kindergarten teacher," Kakashi replied.

Something inside Sasuke stuttered, and instantly the guilt he felt went tenfold. Naruto loved working with children, that was the reason he went to 'help out' Iruka at school. Since the blonde himself had a less than happy childhood he wanted to make children happy. Sasuke had almost denied him that.

"Is there anything else?" he asked as they got inside the lift, making their way down to the car park.

"I got a message from Zabuza that the Ryuusaki group has been moving in on our territory. He caught a couple of them trying to do business with our dealers. "

Sasuke frowned at this news; Ryuusaki was a small gang of wannabe yakuza, a bunch of idiots; no real threat, but recently they had been getting quite courageous, well it was either that or they were stupider than he first thought. Breaching another's territory was an act of war, trying to sell their stuff on it was even worse. People had died for less than that. Obviously he couldn't go out there guns blazing; no need to have the authorities on his back, like that fool Idate.

Talking about that persistent cop, Idate had been following him a lot more than usual, and that comment about him 'joining' with his brother only managed to fuel his paranoia. Sasuke didn't want his dealings to be so 'obvious' that even an idiot like Idate can figure it out. If this continued he would have to take care of that problem.

"Take care of it and be discreet, use just enough force for them all to know not to mess with me," Sasuke replied, stepping inside the waiting black BMW.

Kakashi nodded at him as he got into the driver's seat, and they drove off.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Naruto flicked a piece of lint from his shirt while appraising himself in the mirror; he was wearing semi-casual clothes, a dark blue shirt and black slacks. Today was his first day, and he was beyond nervous, would the kids like him? Would his supervisor be nice and fair? All these questions cluttered his mind, but what worried him the most is what Sasuke would have said.

He hadn't talked to the other since that short phone call, and things had been hell. Lack of sleep, worry, and anger had kept him from relaxing or making another phone call. By now Naruto guessed it was also a battle about who was right and wrong, a battle of a man's pride. Something Naruto hadn't really felt since he became Sasuke's lover.

It was complicated to explain.

While on the one hand he loved how he was taken care of, free of responsibilities, away from stress, away from daily worries, about the next job (if he even had one), paying rent, and somehow saving up enough to buy his ramen. All those worries went away being with Sasuke; he was taken care of.

But then there was this other part of him, the part that grew up on the streets, learned how tough life was, and that things didn't come easy. That part of him didn't like who he was, like some pampered pet pooch; he felt owned, and that's the last way he wanted to feel with Sasuke. Because he did love the other, he loved him so much that it hurt at times, but not being at equal footing with him made him feel like a possession.

Having a job wasn't just about making money, it was about independence, it brought a part of him back. Reminding him that he wasn't just Sasuke's lover, it gave him an identity.

From today onwards he would be Naruto, kindergarten teacher.

"If you're done admiring yourself we need to leave. You won't make a good impression if you come late on your first day," said Iruka, snapping him out of his musings.

He blushed slightly, before straightening out his shirt, "Sorry, just a bit nervous."

"It will be fine, now c'mon; a quick breakfast, and then I'll accompany you."

"You don't need to do that Iruka," Naruto said sitting down at the breakfast table, where a bowl of cereal was waiting for him.

"But I want to, this will be your first day at your first full-time job, and I want to be there to support you."

"Thanks, Iruka," Naruto replied, taking a spoonful of his cereal. He couldn't help but sigh; he wished Sasuke had been this supportive.

The happy feeling within him was instantly replaced by bitterness.

Iruka seemed to notice the sudden change in mood; he put a supportive hand on his shoulder. They finished their breakfast in silence before Iruka noticed the time. He ushered Naruto towards the front door, snatching his satchel from the couch and handing it to the blonde.

"I already packed you a lunch."

"Geez, it's like being in school again."

Iruka laughed and closed the door behind him. The way to '_Ritoru Sakura Yōchien'_ was filled with encouraging chatter, well from Iruka, while Naruto was nervously quiet. None of the brunette's attempts at distracting him where working. It just made him realise how wrong things could go. His supervisor could be a complete ass, the kids could end up hating him, it could end up ruining everything.

"We're here."

Huh, Naruto blinked himself out of his thoughts when he saw the flowery sign of '_Ritoru Sakura Yōchien' _towered above him. For some reason it looked like a sign for a death sentence. Why did it seem so difficult?

"Go on," Iruka urged, giving him a nudge towards the open doors. "Call me when you get off and we'll have lunch," he said, waving goodbye.

Naruto gave him a solemn look; he tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. He turned to look at the wide open doors and went inside the building. Instantly he was met with colours, boards with pictures from little children with wonky scrawls saying 'mum' and 'dad'. Favourite pets, magical beings, rainbow blobs and glitter explosions that literally overwhelmed him. These childish scrawls seemed to calm him a little, reminding him again why he wanted to take this job in the first place. He loved children!

His first trip was to the teacher's lounge where he would officially meet the other staff. After passing through the hallway of paintings he finally reached the door marked 'staff room'; knocking twice, he entered and was instantly greeted by a mass of kind women. The greeted him kindly, offering morning tea, before a young woman named Keiko, about his age with straight black hair, who introduced herself as the secretary.

"Ah look at the cutie, you must be Uzumaki Naruto, the principal told us you would be starting today," she said. "I'll introduce you to everyone."

She pointed to the first woman, a kind-faced elderly woman with greying brown hair, wearing a light green cardigan and slacks. "This is Abe Hakura-senpei, and will be your supervisor, you both will be teaching the year 1 class." The older woman nodded at him.

"Now that's Ishikawa Chisako-san, she teaches year 2," this woman was a little younger than Hakura-san, about the same age as Iruka if he had to guess. She dressed a little bit more formal, but also gave him a kind smile.

"And that's Nakashi Mikami-san, she takes care of the year 3 group with Ogawa Satoshi-san," Mikami was a young blonde and peppy-looking, with an ensemble that was mostly pink, with Satoshi being the only other male. He was a couple of years older than Sasuke, with dark brown hair, and a smart shirt and black slacks.

"So tell us about yourself, Naruto-san. What made you want to be a kindergarten teacher?" Chisako asked, taking a sip of her tea.

Naruto sat down in his chair thoughtfully, "I would say my foster father Iruka was a great inspiration, he is also a teacher and has been there for me when I needed him."

There was a short silence that overtook the lounge making the blonde uncomfortable, before Hakura spoke up.

"That's quite something, Naruto-san, and very brave of you to follow in his footsteps," she said kindly, giving him a wink that instantly dissolved the awkward atmosphere. He could tell he was going to like her.

A loud shrill suddenly rang, instantly reminding him of his own school. The other teachers stood up, putting their own cups in the sink. Hakura gently wound their arms together and led him out of the lounge and down the hall.

"Don't worry about them dear, they're just a little surprised. Let's go to my class; I'll introduce you to the kids, you'll love them. Oh and do call me Hakura, we will be working together after all," she smiled and gave a good-natured tap on his shoulder.

The blonde smiled back as the older woman steered him into a room. It was a typical kindergarten classroom, with carpeted floors and little round tables that could seat five children each. Colourful posters hung on the wall, with a board of pictures from the students themselves. A corner was cleared out with cushions on the floor to make a reading area. Mats were stored in named shelves for each student for when it came to nap time.

Students slowly started pouring in, taking off their shoes and putting on their indoor shoes; a couple looked at Naruto in confusion as they entered the room while others didn't notice him until they had sat down. When they had all sat down Hakura finally had their attention. The class was very well behaved, their cherub faces looking up at them.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, minasan," Hakura greeted.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Abe-san!" the children replied, and their cuteness was just overwhelming.

"And this is our new teacher, Uzumaki Naruto," she introduced.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Uzumaki-san," they all said.

"Morning," he replied, giving a slight wave.

"He'll be helping me teach from now on, so please be polite and treat him kindly."

"Hai, Abe-san!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile.

The blonde man ached, but it was a good ache, a sign of a successful day. He had done so much in a single day; all together there were 15 children. At first the children were asked to draw their fantasy pet, before being moved together near a board where different kanji were marked down and the children were asked to repeat after Hakura. Then came lunch and play time; after that it took a while for the children to settle down to story time and then a nap. At that time Hakura and Naruto would sit down for tea, with the older woman showing him how to fill out forms. Each child had their own file where boxes had to be ticked, with a small note made at the bottom if the teachers had any worries about the children, such as underlying learning difficulties.

The children seemed to like him which he was glad of; Naruto had been worried they would hate him. But he must have made a good impression with how the children acted towards him.

Saying goodbye had actually been difficult; even though he knew that he would see the children tomorrow again, it still brought a little ache in his chest when he waved them goodbye. At least he got a chance to introduce himself to the parents, and hopefully also make a good impression with them as well.

After the last parents had left Naruto turned around, thinking everyone had gone, when he noticed one little boy sitting quietly down on the steps by the door. He was a mousy little thing; Naruto remembered him since he had been smaller than the other children in the class. He had wavy brown hair crowning a round face with rosy cheeks and big honey-coloured eyes. Kiyoshi was the little boy's name, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder where his parents were.

Naruto spotted Hakura standing behind the door, occasionally looking down sadly at Kiyoshi while holding her attendance form in her hands. When Kiyoshi spotted him looking at him, Naruto quickly gave him a reassuring smile and went inside to talk to Hakura. She already seemed to know what it was about.

"His father is a detective and a single parent," she started. "Sadly he often comes late to pick the poor boy up. He's a good man though, a hard-working man."

Naruto nodded and bit his lip uncertainly, until he came up with an idea. "Well it is already late, and you could go home. I don't mind staying with him Hakura-san until his father comes to pick him up."

"That would be wonderful Naruto-san, here," she said, handing him the attendance form. "Please sign him out when his father comes, and thank you."

They bowed to each other in thanks and Naruto watched her pick up her things and leave. The blonde took a deep breath, steeling his nerve, suddenly feeling very nervous. He went outside and sat down beside the Kiyoshi.

"Uzumaki-san?" came the little boy's voice.

"Call me Naruto; is your daddy coming soon?" he asked.

Kiyoshi looked down, his little hands wrung together nervously. "Daddy works a lot so he's always late."

"Well he does that because he cares about you."

"I wish he wouldn't," he replied solemnly.

Naruto couldn't help but wince; although Iruka was his only true father figure he had never 'abandoned' him, but Naruto still knew what it felt like. When he had been in the orphanage it hadn't been easy, with being either ignored or being ridiculed; it had hurt, especially when he had been so young. So he had the experience and knew how to deal with it, with some distraction.

Naruto spotted Kiyoshi's bag, and couldn't help but grin. "Oh wow, you have an Ultra Man bag!"

The brunet looked up, surprised. "You like Ultra Man?" his honey-coloured eyes shining with wonder.

"Sure I do, he's the best with his laser gun. Phew, phew, phew!" he said, folding his fingers into 'gun' shapes and started shooting randomly in the air, and making Kiyoshi giggle.

"Oh, did you see that episode where Ultra Man took down the v-vu-vultu-rian cybers?"

"That's my favourite episode! Like how he stormed his way through past the pod people, and rescued Lady PeiPei by giving that evil Sato a round-house kick to the face!" he said back enthusiastically.

"So many explosions!" Kiyoshi said, throwing his hands up in reference to the scene. "Although Lady PeiPei always gets kid-ki-kidnapp-ed a lot," Kiyoshi said struggling with the bigger words. "It ruins it!"

The blonde couldn't help but laugh at the cute pout on his little face. "Haha, she can be annoying!"

They talked a bit more, simply enjoying themselves, when Naruto noticed that he hadn't gotten his own bags. He told Kiyoshi to wait for him while he went inside; when he reached the classroom he went behind the teacher's desk where his bag was stored. He glanced towards the window when he saw a tall dark-haired man walk through the gates and towards the doors. For a moment he panicked until he saw Kiyoshi jump up excitedly and run towards the older man.

He obviously knew him, so that meant he was Kiyoshi's father.

He watched how the dark-haired man picked his little boy up, swinging him around before bringing him into a hug. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the sight. Kiyoshi was saying something, pointing towards the building; the man shook his head and the boy frowned before he looked slightly dejected. Kiyoshi wiggled out of his father's grip and ran to pick his bag up, then went back to his father and they both left.

Naruto smiled and picked up the attendance and ticked the little brunet off the list; he picked up his bag and went to the front office to hand in the form before calling Iruka to meet him for a very late lunch.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

_Hope you all enjoyed it. I think there really is a character called 'Ultra Man' out there, but what I have in here is completely made up! Just wanted to show the interaction between Naruto and Kiyoshi, I wanted it so that Kiyoshi would adore Naruto. Not a lot about Sasuke in this one then next one will be more about him._

_Thank you for reading, now review and join the dark side we have cookies!_


	4. Trouble in the Underground

_Sorry for taking so long to update everyone!_

_In this chapter I'm showing off the fact that Sasuke is a criminal, I want to make 'Chasing Eden' more about him then Naruto. Or at least that had been the original plan and I'm doing a terrible job of keeping it up. Hopefully in further chapters I can emphasis this._

_Enjoy reading!_

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Chapter 4: Trouble in the Underground

Sasuke put another stack of papers in the out pile; he shook his strained right hand, trying to get rid of the cramp that was starting to form there. He was a CEO, he shouldn't have to sign this many papers. At least he was out of his brother's building for now and back into his own; he didn't have to work with someone looking over his shoulder anymore. A sigh left him as he turned around to gaze out of the wide window overlooking the city, leaving him to contemplate his day like he did every day.

Naruto had been gone for over a week, 10 days to be precise, and he was starting to get impatient with the blonde. He had gotten past the point of feeling guilty about his actions and now he was just irritated. A simple call would have possibly been enough to calm his nerves, but not even that. He decided that today he would actually go to kindergarten where Naruto worked and finally talk to him face-to-face. He wouldn't refuse Naruto doing his dream job, but simply come home and give him some peace of mind.

Another thing that had been bothering him was how the Ryuusaki gang had been broaching in on his territory. It was almost as if they knew his routes, attacking his dealers and stealing his supplies so that they could sell it off themselves. It might have barely made a dent in his income, but he couldn't let them get away with this mess. It ruined his reputation. Problem was that they had hidden themselves well; even Zabuza couldn't find them, and if Zabuza couldn't then this small thorn in his side would turn into a knife wound.

It also made Sasuke consider that maybe this gang wasn't working on their own; the level of organization went a little beyond their grunt brain-like capacity. He had dealt with the Ryuusaki group before, just a bunch of mindless thugs and teenagers who probably couldn't find their dicks if they were holding them. No, there had to be someone working and helping them out, it was the only thing that made sense. Too bad he couldn't 'ask' one of them for the information, elusive little bastards.

Sasuke sighed and stood up; he decided to take an early lunch, sitting there was starting to leave him restless. When he stepped out of the office Kakashi was already waiting for him. The older man followed him silently, simply continuing to skim through his blackberry.

"Where would you like to go to lunch?"

The Uchiha thought about it for a while. "Ichiraku," he surprised himself by mentioning that shabby place. It was Naruto's favourite place, but he suddenly had the urge to go there. Kakashi arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything, he simply nodded and when they reached the car he simply opened the door to the BMW to let Sasuke in and drove him there.

Ichiraku was still as Sasuke remembered it, a small street vendor which mostly sold ramen. Stacks of bowls, cups, and plates to the right side of the stall, while on the left were a few premade bento boxes. A burly older man in his late fifties worked the stove, while a much younger woman, probably his daughter, was in the back washing dishes. The man greeted Sasuke heartily when he sat himself down on the stool, with Kakashi beside him, but it was obvious from the look on the older man's face that he wasn't expecting someone like Sasuke at his establishment.

It wasn't like Sasuke looked like any of his regular customers in his well-pressed obviously expensive black suit, styled hair and what looked like a secretary following him around. Nothing at all like the average-looking salary men that usually visited his shop. But the old man quickly plastered on a smile before he offended his customer.

"How can I help you?" the old man asked.

"Tsukumi Soba, with Kocha," Sasuke replied.

The old man nodded then turned to look at Kakashi, "And for you, sir?"

"Just a cup of Houjicha, thank you."

The cook nodded and turned to instruct his daughter to make the drinks while he went to make Sasuke's food. Something about watching the older man get to work calmed the yakuza. It reminded him of Naruto and whenever he made ramen for himself, even the smell of the buckwheat noodles and the dashi soup boiling brought back pleasant thoughts. Sasuke tried not to seem too eager when the noodles were finally presented to him, but he was sure Kakashi noticed if that smile he was hiding behind his cup was anything to go by.

But even before Sasuke could take his first bite the moment was ruined.

"Ah Uchiha-san I wasn't expecting to see you in such a humble establishment!" came that annoying voice that grated through his skull.

But he didn't show his anger outwardly, instead only gave the detective a slight glance that he had even acknowledged him. "Detective Morino, how _pleasant _to see you," he replied evenly before returning to his meal.

Idate huffed, not liking the obvious snub; instead he grabbed a stool opposite Sasuke on his left and turned to the cook. "One large miso ramen, Teuchi-san."

"Sure thing Idate-san," the man replied and returned to cooking, while Idate fixed Sasuke with a calculating gaze.

Soon the staring became too trying even for the ever patient Sasuke, who sighed putting his chopsticks down to regard the other man. "Is there anything I can help you with, Detective?"

Idate instantly plastered on an innocent look. "Oh, simply wondering what an almighty Uchiha would be doing here, eating at such a simple stall."

"I felt like some noodles today; that is not a crime, is it?" he replied with a cold monotonous voice.

"But why here when I'm sure that there are at least ten different five star restaurants that could better meet your requirements. Why go all the way here to this ragged little-"

"Oi boy, not another word!" shouted Teuchi, making Idate flinch. "This may be a small place but it serves the best ramen in the city, and I have many loyal customers that will vouch for that!" he finished with pride. But it was enough to silence the detective, who gave Teuchi a nervous smile as the bowl of miso ramen was put in front of him.

A ghost of a smile filtered onto Sasuke's face when he thought back to Naruto's own passionate rants about Ichiraku, and what a haven it was. Sasuke never really understood what the blonde meant by it but he was starting to get a good idea.

Yet the moment was ruined once again when Idate opened his stupid mouth.

"Still didn't answer my question, Uchiha."

Sasuke passed him a smirk, "It is as Techi-san has already said, this place serves the best ramen."

The detective was left fuming, but before he could make a snappy comeback Sasuke had already stood up, slammed some money on the counter and left. Kakashi followed right behind but then he came close to whisper into his ear.

"Haku sent a text."

"What is it?" he asked getting in the car, while Kakashi went to the front to drive.

"Zabuza finally caught one."

Sasuke nodded and turned to look out of the window at the passing city; it looked like he would have to postpone his meeting with Naruto.

Kakashi drove them out of the city towards the more industrial area of the prefecture; warehouses stood looming side to side. Most of them were owned by Sasuke although they weren't under his name, but rather under different aliases; some of them were empty, which would be perfect for what they were about to do. Kakashi drove to the furthest one, slowly bringing the car to a park before stepping out to open the door for Sasuke. The Uchiha straightened out his suit and gave the older man a nod before making his way towards the old warehouse.

It used to be used as a steel mill, but now it was in disuse and abandoned. Broken and rusted equipment littered the area; he would have to make a note of cleaning the warehouse and selling off some of the more useable equipment. Then use this sight maybe for storage.

For now however…

"Uchiha-sama, it's good to see you again," came Haku's light voice.

Haku as always was dressed in effeminate clothes, an oriental printed Chinese-style blouse mainly toned with reds and gold, and skinny jeans with knee high boots. His long black hair was tied in a bun with a fringe framing his round face. As always a serene aura surrounded him. He smiled pleasantly at Sasuke, giving a small bow in greeting. To which Sasuke simply nodded back.

"You too; you said Zabuza finally found one?"

Haku nodded and motioned for his boss to follow him. "Yes, it took Zabuza a while, they had hidden themselves very well but of course one of them ended up making a mistake. This one was trying to sell some cheap alcohol to school children," there was an edge of bitterness in his voice.

"You sure he's part of the Ryuusaki?" there were plenty of idiots who pretended to be part of a gang or organization for protection.

"We checked him out, except for the fact that he keeps on shouting about the fact that he's part of Ryuusaki, he also has that tacky Dragon tattoo on his upper arm."

Sasuke hummed thoughtfully; he could hear the shouting as well but it sounded muffled, and as he got closer he found out it was because the kid had his head covered with a sack. Zabuza stood a bit further away with a book in hand; he nodded towards his boss when he saw him coming.

"Did you get anything out of him?" he asked.

Zabuza shook his head in negative, "Not yet, stubborn little bastard; thought you might want to have a look at him before I continue."

Sasuke nodded and went towards the punk; he motioned for Zabuza to take the sack of the kid. As the sack was yanked off he noticed how disoriented the kid was, his eyes blinking around in confusion as he tried to get his bearings right. He looked like a typical thug, fake bleached thinly cropped hair, a piercing under his bottom lip and one going through his left eyebrow. His clothes were straight out of a gangster rap song, with the oversized jeans and thick jacket over a printed shirt and many chains around his neck. He was probably in his late teens or early twenties.

Just an idiotic kid.

"Yo man, what F is going on? I'm part of Ryuusaki biatch; if my posse find out what you did they'll come after yo-" a harsh slap finally stopped the string of blabber coming out his mouth. Kids these days couldn't even speak proper Japanese.

"Shut up, do you know who I am?" he asked with a clipped edge to his voice.

The kid winced as his cheek stung with the slap, "What the fuck is yo-" another slap.

"Speak Japanese you punk, now answer me, do you know who I am?"

The kid obviously started to understand that this situation went a bit further than what he was used to. "W-who are y-you?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Sasuke leaned in close, close enough that he could see the whites of the kid's eyes. "I'm the man whose merchandise you've been stealing."

The kid distinctively paled; he tried to squirm out of his seat, although the bonds wouldn't let him move an inch. He knew who Sasuke was, and had obviously been warned not to get caught by him. A grim realization seemed to settle in him as he looked away from Sasuke, not being able to take his intimidating stare anymore.

"I ain't telling you nothing!"

"Hmm," Sasuke hummed, straightening himself out; slowly he stood up and started unbuttoning his suit jacket. "I'd say that's the wrong answer."

Sasuke handed his jacket to Haku, who took it with a bow before turning to Kakashi. Usually he wouldn't get his hands dirty dealing with idiots like this. But over this past week he had built up a lot of frustration dealing with these punks, Itachi looming over his shoulder, and with Naruto leaving him, he had a lot of anger just waiting to boil out. He took off his tie and also handed it to Haku before undoing the cuffs and rolling up his sleeves. Kakashi then came and handed him something but the kid couldn't see what it was.

It was only when Sasuke turned around, a knuckle-duster wrapped tightly around his fist, that the kid's already pale complexion became almost sickly in colour.

"But I'm sure I can get you to talk."

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Naruto watched again as another child walked away with his parent as he waved them off, now it was only him and Kiyoshi again. It seemed like Hakura-san had been correct about the boy's father, even though he was never there it was obvious that he was a good man. Although he had never met the man Kiyoshi obviously idolized him as well with the way he talked about his father. A smile made a way onto his face as Kiyoshi continued to make animated expressions and wild hand movements.

The little boy had such energy, completely different from the first time the blonde had met Kiyoshi. He wasn't such a shy boy anymore, instead he was loud and boisterous, kind of reminding Naruto of a younger Konohamaru . It looked like all it took to make him happy was for someone to show the same interest and simply talk to him. In a way Naruto was proud that Kiyoshi had chosen him to be his confidante.

"Daddy is just like Ultra Man, saving the world and getting rid of the bad guys!"

Naruto couldn't help but stifle his laughter. "That's a wonderful thing, you must be very proud."

"I am, but because of his job daddy is never home," he finished with a frown.

This was the one continuous problem that the small boy always expressed, the fact that his father was never truly around. Most nights were spent with a babysitter, his father usually came back too late and in the mornings he was only there to send his son back to kindergarten and later pick him up. Kiyoshi simply missed his father.

"I'm sure that no matter what your father thinks about you every day when he's at work," he said trying to reassure.

It looked like he would finally have to have a talk with Mr. Morino, but Naruto didn't have a clue about how to broach the subject. Kiyoshi nodded in understanding but there was still a forlorn look on his little cherub face. Naruto didn't like that and thought about a way to distract the boy.

"Hey, how about you play a game of I-Spy to pass the time?"

"Yay!" the brunette shouted, throwing his arms in the air with renewed excitement.

"Okay, you start."

Kiyoshi looked thoughtfully around, honey brown eyes shining with mischief, "I spy with my little eye…"

They continued to play what seemed like forever. Naruto obviously kept it simple, and as soon as they ran out of things to 'spy' on they moved on to other games. Anything to keep the child's mind off his father's lateness.

It was then that he heard a set of footsteps crunching off the pavement and moving closer towards them; the blonde slowly looked up and saw a man getting closer to them. He was tall, with dark hair tied in a lose ponytail, some hair framing his handsome face; his eyes were dark silver in colour. Suit slightly crumpled with what looked like soup stains on his shirt. Naruto's blue eyes widened in surprise, he certainly didn't look like the typical detective that he had expected.

Kiyoshi had also noticed his father was coming and jumped up to meet him. Naruto slowly stood up, watching the little boy jump into his father's waiting arms giggling delightfully. Idate smiled before he finally noticed the other man standing there. At first he was confused, but then his dark silver eyes brightened as if he remembered something.

"You must be Uzumaki-san, the new teacher; Kiyoshi talks about you all the time!" he said, bowing in greeting as much as he could manage with his son in his arms.

Naruto bowed back politely. "Good things I hope."

"Of course. Kiyoshi can't stop talking about the wonderful new teacher who's just as much of an Ultra Man fan as he is!"

The blonde couldn't help but blush at such praise; he ran his hand through his spiky blonde hair. "Thank you Morino-san, but I do have an issue I'd like to discuss with you about your son."

"Is there a problem?"

Naruto put on the most pleasant smile that he could. "It shouldn't be, Kiyoshi could you please sit over there and read your book," he asked.

The small brunette looked between the two adults, confusion evident on his face, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and went towards the stairs, taking his reading book out of his bag to read. Naruto then turned to regard the other man, who was still looking at him with confusion.

"What is the problem, is there something wrong with Kiyoshi?" Idate asked, going into full worried father mode.

"No there's nothing wrong with Kiyoshi, he's a bright young boy and has been doing very well so far. No Morino-san, I'm more worried about the fact that you haven't been around your son much."

Idate frowned, not liking where this conversation was going. There had been too many times where people would judge his parenting and attack him for the fact that he was a single parent. "Uzumaki-san…"

"No please, do hear me out first. I know that as a detective you are very busy and I understand also that as a single father things can't be easy for you. I also know that you are a good man, and work hard to provide for your son," Idate's stance relaxed slightly when he recognized that he wasn't being directly attacked.

"I'm simply asking that you spend at least one day with your son, taking one day off wouldn't hurt would it?" Naruto finished, hoping that he hadn't made the man angry.

Idate sighed; he knew he had been neglecting his son, sometimes he got so bundled up in his cases that he couldn't think about anything else. Especially when it came to that Uchiha. Idate wanted nothing more than to finally catch that dirty Yakuza but he never seemed to have any evidence to back his claims. Now it got to the point where it was also hurting his own son. It seemed like after his mother died Idate couldn't do anything right for his boy, and it made him feel terrible.

The detective regarded the blonde teacher in front of him, trying to figure him out. He seemed a little young to be a teacher, early twenties. A lightly tanned round face, three faint scars marred his face, and sparkling blue eyes that shone like sapphires. Idate was taken aback by how much they reminded them of his own wife's, possessing the same calm and sincerity that she did. The detective looked away, not being able to look in those eyes anymore, and sighed again. This was about his son, not some old long forgotten memory.

"You're right, of course you are. I just-I just can't seem to…" he looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto saw the struggle the other man was going through, and quickly went to reassure. "I understand Morino-san, but this isn't about you, this is for your son so please do remember that. I'm not asking you to quit your job, just to simply spend time with Kiyoshi."

Idate nodded. "Thank you for that," he said sincerely and called out for Kiyoshi.

The little boy came bounding over, running once again straight into his father's waiting arms. Idate picked him up, resting the boy against his hip securely before taking his bag off his son so that he could hold it himself. They said their goodbye's and left.

Naruto watched them go with a small smile; it didn't look like he had offended the detective, which he was glad of. The blonde didn't want to upset Idate after all, only make him realize his priorities a bit. At least now maybe Kiyoshi wouldn't get sad whenever he talked about his father, and if he had only managed to bring them a little bit closer then he would be the happiest.

Seeing that everything was finally done for the day, the blonde gathered his things and left the school to go back to Iruka's. But on the way he couldn't help but consider his own mess of a relationship. Sasuke was probably fuming by now if Naruto had to guess, which made the blonde reluctant to take the first step.

Over a week now into their separation and Naruto was literally in agony from the loneliness. Iruka and the children from the kindergarten helped, but he missed Sasuke's warmth. His gentle and attentive nature that the Uchiha only showed when he was around him. The special moments they shared. Even though Naruto know what Sasuke was, what kind of business he was involved in, he still loved and cared for him.

Because to him Sasuke wasn't an 'Uchiha', he was simply Sasuke. The man he loved.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Sasuke looked over the beaten boy, he had taken quiet a pounding. His pale face bruised and swollen, a couple of teeth missing with blood spilling from him mouth. Probably also had a fractured jaw, maybe even a concussion, not that he cared. The punk's eyes were puffed and bruised, tears streaming down his broken face. The boy talked though, they always did, singing like a fucking canary like many before him. The Uchiha wiped his hands nonchalantly, the white towel stained crimson with blood.

Although the information he had gotten slightly disturbed him. The fucking Russian mafia were involved, a cruel bunch that he'd rather not deal with. Yet he didn't think Russians would come all the way here to set themselves up, and using a bunch of ignorant kids to do their dirty work. Stealing supplies and reselling it as your own merchandise was a good way to establish your name in the underworld.

He may know that it was the Russians but he still didn't have a name. The kid said they never actually met the guy, only got the occasional phone call or an email with instructions on their next job. So he was stuck with a dilemma; there were dozens of Russian mafia groups, narrowing them down wouldn't be easy. Thinking about it further through they must also have an inside, a family within Japan that were helping the Russians? It would be the only way to establish the first trade routes.

Sasuke would have to get Shikamaru in on this and do some checks if any Russians had recently decided to visit the Island.

When he was sure he had gotten all of the excess blood off him, he handed the towel back to Kakashi and took the new shirt off Haku to replace his blood-splattered one. Sasuke redressed himself, tightening his tie and making sure that he looked prim and proper. It wouldn't do any good if he walked back into the office looking like he had gotten into a fight.

"What should we do with him?" Zabuza asked.

The Uchiha looked back at the broken boy. "Hn, dump him where they can find him, that should send out a strong enough message that they shouldn't mess with me."

Zabuza nodded, taking out a switchblade to cut through the duct tape bindings, cursing when he managed to get blood on his army boots. Haku watched with a smile as his lover picked the beaten thug up and dragged him out of the warehouse through the back way while Kakashi and Sasuke left through the front. His secretary opened the car door for him again so that he could get in, and they drove out of the industrial area back to the city's centre.

Tomorrow news of a beaten Ryuusaki gang member would probably be the main headline, just as he wanted.

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_Review and join the dark side we have cookies!_


	5. Keeping an eye

_Hello everyone,_

_I know its been a long time since I've updated but I had a few personal problems that I've had to work through. But I am getting back into writing and have slowly been getting back into writing, so thank you for being so patient with me. _

_But I have been drawing up new a lot of things, and even have an idea for a new Naruto doujinshi that I'm working with. Links as always can be found on my profile page under '__Doujinshi__'. Since I also have tumbler now as well, were I've put up some of my drawings and new (unpublished/ future) fanfic extracts._

_This chapter is a sort of a filler, the next chapter will be more exciting and drama filled. So look forward to that!_

_Beta read by Kuro Mitsu!_

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Chapter 5: Keeping an eye

Naruto was eating his cereal when he saw the shocking news; the spoon almost slipped from his fingers when he saw the report of the dead kid found in the middle of the road. He was barely in his twenties, just a kid really, and for him to end up like this was horrible. The news headline was reporting it as being a gang-hit; the blonde couldn't help but sigh, what was the world coming to when a kid that young gets into gangs.

Then again Sasuke was born into a crime family, he had been surrounded by guns, drugs, and death from a young age. But he was also a good man or at least to Naruto he had always been good. Suddenly he was just sitting there, thinking about Sasuke, wondering how long he could actually stay away from the older man. Since by now the punishment he had been trying to give Sasuke was starting to affect him in more ways than one. He missed that bastard, and it wasn't fair how much he was missing him, not fair at all.

A loud beeping sound startled him out of his thoughts; he looked down at his alarm clock and cursed inwardly when he noticed what the time was. He moved quickly, putting his now finished bowl into the sink and grabbing his jacket and bag. Iruka had already left early since there was an early meeting at the school he worked at, so today he would be leaving on his own today.

He locked the apartment door behind him and hurried down the stairs out of the block; as soon as he stepped outside he was met by morning commuters. He pushed through the crowd, stealthily avoiding the oncoming mass of people and keeping up with the customary 'no-eye-contact-rule' as he went. It didn't however stop him from noticing a familiar lazy man who was lounging against a wall, smoking. Naruto smiled and walked slowly towards his friend.

"I thought you were going to stop," he said pointedly looking at the smoke Shikamaru was blowing.

"When you and my boss finally stop stressing me out I will," Shikamaru replied, taking another drag from his cigarette.

The blonde snorted and looked away, "If the bastard cooperated once in a while, I might consider it."

This had Shikamaru laughing; he stubbed the cigarette out and threw it away, and they both made their way towards Naruto's workplace.

"Heard you were working at a kindergarten."

"Yeah, it took a long time but I'm finally doing something I really want."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding. As soon as Naruto had left school he wanted to go straight into teaching, but between paying rent and feeding himself he never found enough time to finish his training. He remembered the many times Naruto would eat out on his break with Kiba and Chouji, poring over books and working on practice papers for tests. But as the years went on, between rents going up and losing his job so many times, his books and papers were brought in less and less. Until one day Kiba's dog had found them crumpled together in a shelf under a pile of phone books. Shikamaru had honestly thought that his friend had given up, but he guessed that the year he lived with the oyabun finally gave him an opportunity to follow his dream.

"I'm glad you're doing this," Shikamaru said reassuringly.

Naruto turned to look at him, his blue eyes shining with mild surprise. "Really? I thought you would be here to convince me to go back to Sasuke."

At this Shikamaru sighed. "Uchiha may be my boss, but you were my friend first, and no matter what happens I would be on your side no matter how troublesome you can be." He paused, then raised his hand to rub the back of his head, a sign that he was feeling awkward. "Actually I'm glad that you aren't around him that much."

This made Naruto frown, "Why?"

"You mean except for the fact that he's dangerous?" he said incredulously.

Naruto couldn't help but snort again. "Tell me something I don't know. He's a fucking Yakuza after all, but so are you. Should I stop being friends with you as well then?"

Shikamaru just gave him a dead-pan look, but he guessed the blonde was right (for once), cutting one bond would mean cutting another as well. Not that he thought that Sasuke would ever let Naruto give up their connection, he himself was right here because his boss had 'requested' (another word for ordered) him to do it and report back. How troublesome this was.

He glanced to the side and was amused to find Naruto looking quite embarrassed, scratching one his scarred cheeks and biting his bottom lip with such a strong look of concentration marring his face. The brunette could guess what his friend wanted to ask, it was after all the same thing Sasuke had asked of him. Even if Shikamaru didn't like the idea of them being together, he didn't want to deny his friend his happiness, and Shikamaru had never seen Naruto happier than when he had been with that stuck-up Uchiha.

"He's worried about you," he said after a long silence, which only managed to startle the blonde.

Naruto looked very flustered, his cheeks tinting a distinctive pink in colour. Quickly he looked away from Shikamaru, almost huffing towards the nearing school. "I didn't ask that!"

Shikamaru stopped. "But you wanted to know, right?"

Naruto faltered in his step; he came to a stop, his shoulders dropping in dejection. He slowly turned to look at Shikamaru, his hand tightly gripping the strap of his satchel as if it were a lifeline. "Did-did he really say that?" he asked, as if he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Didn't need to, everyone knows just by looking at the guy. No one's ever seen the Uchiha like this."

The blonde bowed his head, hiding his eyes away from him but he was still biting his bottom lip nervously. He finally looked up, and Shikamaru was surprised to see the almost pained expression on his friend's face. How his blue eyes were almost watery, brows furrowed, and teeth gritting together as if it just stopped him from screaming. Without even thinking about it, Shikamaru took a step towards the distraught blonde and bundled him into a hug.

"Hey, hey…," he whispered, his voice muffled by the blonde's hair. He felt the blonde grab his shirt, fisting the cloth tightly.

"I miss him, I fucking miss that bastard. He can be a prick, he can be selfish and sometimes so bloody cold, but I miss him. I _fucking_ miss him!" he shouted into the brunette's shirt. "God, that's just pathetic right?"

"No, no… you can't help loving that prick. You always had a way of seeing and bringing out the good in people. Trust me he feels exactly the same way," he said trying his best to console his friend. "Now c'mon," he said, slowly pushing the blonde away from him. He gave Naruto a rare smile and reached inside his pocket for his handkerchief. "You're a teacher now, how would it look to your students if you came in all sad-like. They would all be worried about their beloved Uzumaki-sensei."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the joke; he took the handkerchief off Shikamaru and used it to wipe his eyes. He was however right, he couldn't go to work looking like this, it would only end up worrying them. "Thanks," he said, handing the handkerchief back but stopped when he noticed something monographed in the corner.

"IY, as in 'Ino Yamanaka'? Are you two going out?" he couldn't help but ask.

This time it was Shikamaru's turn to blush and quickly snatch the cloth off him. "Don't be stupid, she just lent it to me that's all," he said, although much too quickly for the blonde to believe him.

He couldn't help but smirk. "Sure; you should just ask her out. She won't wait for long," he said and turned around. "I've gotta go now, talk to you later okay."

"Wait-Naruto!" he called after him, but the departing blonde only raised his arm in a half-hearted wave before disappearing around the corner.

Shikamaru couldn't help but sigh, rubbing the back of his head nervously again. His gaze dropped down to the handkerchief, and couldn't help but smile. "Idiot…" he muttered to himself before taking out his phone to make a call.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

_Ring, ring, ring, ring_

Sasuke looked up from his paperwork at his mobile, noticing Itachi's name flashing irritatingly back at him. He would be more than happy to ignore it, but knew that if he didn't answer his phone then his dear brother would come to the office himself to infuriate him personally. So he chose the lesser of two evils and answered his phone.

"What is it, Itachi?"

"Oh little brother, you could at least sound a little happier when I call you," came his brother's playful voice.

"That's never going to happen," he shot-down. "Now what do you want?"

"Tch, just wanted to make sure that you're still coming to the party," he said.

The raven sighed. "No, I'm not."

"Why, you still fighting with your little lover?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth together. "How did you find out?"

He could almost imagine his brother shrugging his shoulders while leaning on his chair sipping a martini. "Just heard a few rumours," he answered.

The younger Uchiha sighed; of course the rumour mill would start spilling their shit, he would have to deal with that as well.

"So what happened?"

"Just a fight…"

"About what?"

"Don't you already know what happened?" Sasuke replied back snidely.

He could literally feel Itachi smirking from the other side of the line. "Maybe, but I'd like my information verified, so do tell me what happened little brother."

The raven sighed again; he had been doing that a lot these days. Might as well do it, Itachi's information network was good and he didn't want his brother meddling. "Naruto got a job."

"Not as a waiter again I hope."

"No, Kindergarten teacher."

"Well that's a respectable occupation, much better than all his other 'so-called' jobs. Even might stop father from being so unreasonable…"

Sasuke couldn't help but frown, his father hadn't been happy that Naruto and he were dating; it was very well known what opinions his father kept…referring to Naruto as a gold-digger at one moment was one thing. His mother had just been happy enough that he didn't bring one of his 'merchandise' to a family get-together just to spite his father. Sasuke was also pretty sure that his mother would just be ecstatic that he was dating someone 'normal'.

"But I'm guessing that there is more to this."

The young Uchiha was silent, thinking back to that horrible dinner. How hard Naruto had worked to make the evening enjoyable for them both before he had to ruin it. He didn't even want to listen to his lover's explanation but had kept on ranting at him.

"I'm guessing by your silence that you went into your 'higher-than-though' mood and completely wrote him off, right Otouto?"

"Hn…"

"Thought so; so what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know…" and he really didn't, Sasuke had never been too good at relationships. In fact being with Naruto had been first real bond he had made, the only person he has really cared for. No one in his family except for maybe his mother came in the same spectrum.

"Hm, I'd recommend talking; from what I understand your little koibito is very vocal," Itachi suggested.

Sasuke couldn't help but blush. "I'll take that into advisement," he said through gritted teeth.

His brother chuckled, "Goodbye then brother, do call me when you get things fixed."

"Hn," he said and put his phone off before swiveling around his chair so that his view was focused on the window. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, his hand raised to support his head as he stared out into the skyline thoughtfully.

He really wanted to see Naruto, Shikamaru's hourly updates did only so much to console him. He needed to see the blonde face to face, and he hoped that they had given each other enough space by now to not fight again as soon as their eyes met. Even then he hoped not to lose control when he saw the blonde and jump him. It was decided then, he would go see Naruto, and hopefully convince him to come back.

Quickly Sasuke pressed the button for the intercom that led a personal line to Kakashi's desk. "Kakashi, I want my evening cleared up, cancel all of my meetings."

"…Going to finally see Naruto-san, sir?" came the older man's crackled voice.

Sasuke frowned; that man was just like his brother, he knew too much. "Hn," he grunted.

"It will be arranged, sir," Kakashi replied.

Sasuke took his hand off the intercom and went back to staring out of the window, his thoughts filled with one particular blonde. The paperwork forgotten.

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_Thank you for reading._

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	6. To hold your hand

_Hello everyone,_

_I know it has been a long time since I've updated. Finally got some time so I've written you something juicy to make up for it. Hope you all enjoy!_

_Beta read by Kuro Mitsu! Worship her!_

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Chapter 5: To hold your hand

Sasuke had left work early for the first time in years, to the surprise of many of his subordinates. Sasuke never left work early, he would work through the night, sometimes sleeping in his office. Having its own fully equipped bathroom and shower, with a closet full of tailored suits. The fact that he left before anyone else had them worried. The raven ignored all their stares and strode down the corridor confidently, he nodded at the foyer receptionist before he left through the door that Kakashi held open for him.

"Class hasn't ended yet sir, but by the time we arrive Naruto should have finished and you will have some privacy to talk," the older man informed him.

Sasuke gave him his thanks and stepped inside the waiting car, that drove him straight towards _Ritoru Sakura__Yōchien_. He tried to imagine how he would talk to Naruto. Would he simply confront his lover; he wouldn't plead, although he was very close to doing so. Charming Naruto may work, but his lover wasn't the type to be bribed by sweet words. No, Naruto was stubborn, and that is what he loved about the man, he would fight him every step of the way.

He sighed; there was no reason to think up cheap tricks, they would talk, work this issue out like adults. It wasn't as if Sasuke wanted to deny Naruto having his job, he would happily support his lover. He just hoped Naruto would listen to his words, maybe even allow for some mild surveillance. Sasuke couldn't help but snort derisively. Naruto would shout his ears off before agreeing to be put under surveillance. The blonde didn't appreciate being kept an eye on like a child. He would have to figure something out.

The car started to slow, and was parked just slightly down the road from the building. Sasuke could see a crowd of people standing behind a closed gate eagerly waiting for the children to come out. There was a loud shrilling noise of the bell and the gate slowly stated to move open and the crowd started to slowly move inside to pick up their children. One by one they left with a child, until there was no one left outside. Sasuke was about to step out of the car when he noticed a man running towards the building, he reminded him of someone.

He ignored that thought and waited for the man to leave with his child and then made his move. Slowly he stepped out of the car and walked past the open gate towards the entrance. He paused when he saw the blonde man with his back to him; a sudden nervous feeling rose in his belly and his throat felt too dry. It was ironic how he could stand up to a mob of murderous yakuzas, but when it came to Naruto he felt out of his depth.

"Naruto…" he called out before he even realised.

He watched how the other man froze, the bag that he was holding in his hand dropped to the ground with a heavy 'thump'. Slowly the blonde turned around, his blue eyes wide and scared; it pained Sasuke to know that his lover was scared of him.

"'suke…" the raven barely heard his name being whispered.

He was stumped; he didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter because soon his had an arms full of the boisterous blonde. Soft plump lips pressing firmly against his own, without pause he reached arms around to hold onto the warm body firmly against his own. He felt warm hands running through his hair, travelling down his face to grip onto his blazer, pulling him even closer. He teased his tongue across Naruto's lips, asking for entrance. As soon as the blonde accepted, he thrust his tongue in, plundering his mouth until he gasped for air. He eased off his lover ending their kiss, but he didn't let the other go.

"I missed you…" he whispered earnestly.

A small smile bloomed on Naruto's tanned face, his blue eyes shining bright with love. "I missed you too," he replied.

"Come home with me Naruto…"

The light in his eyes suddenly seemed to dim, and he turned his head away slightly. "Sasuke I can't-"

"No listen, I don't want you to quit your job, I just…I just want you back home," the Uchiha tried to explain.

"Uzumaki-sensei?!"

Naruto sprang away from him, and both men turned around to see a wide-eyed Morino Idate and his son Kiyoshi standing by the gate. The blonde blushed and tried to straighten himself out, while Sasuke glared at the shocked man. The blonde could feel a sudden drop in the atmosphere as the air filled with animosity; it was obvious that Sasuke and Idate knew each other, but right now he didn't want to know how his lover knew the detective or vice-versa. He quickly needed to dispel the situation.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Idate-san?" he asked, that seemed to snap both men out of whatever reverie they were in.

"Apologies Uzumaki-sensei, Kiyoshi just forgot his lunchbox."

"Oh of course, I saw it on his desk, I'll be right back," Naruto quickly went inside the building, hoping to get back before a fight broke out between those two.

As soon as Naruto was gone, Idate turned to Sasuke with an icy glare. "What are you doing here, Uchiha? Are you trying to hassle some debt out of sensei?" he accused.

"Hn…" Sasuke grunted, not believing the stupidity of that man, as if he would go around collecting debt personally. He would use his lower ranking men for such a menial task.

Idate seemed to realise the error; he gritted his teeth together in frustration and suddenly his eyes widened. "Wait, are you here for something else?"

This question had Sasuke raising an eyebrow, what was the detective trying to insinuate now? There was a look of terror and disgust in Morino's dark grey eyes, his pale face went red with anger. The detective took a step forward, his hand raised in a fist while his son looked scared and confused between the two older men.

"I know your tastes Uchiha, are you trying to force yourself on Uzumaki-sensei?" he demanded.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. "Trust me Morino, I don't need to use any 'force'," he replied suggestively.

The look of horror on the detective's face almost had Sasuke bursting with laughter. Who knew what kind of thoughts were running through the man's mind; before Idate could retaliate Naruto burst through the double doors with a blue and yellow lunch box. He smiled brightly at them and walked over to the confused child and handed it to the young boy.

"Here you go Kiyoshi, don't forget it next time, alright?"

Kiyoshi nodded using his lunchbox to hide his face behind it, his large eyes still staring nervously between the older men. Naruto noticing this straightened himself out and turned to his father. "Idate-san you should probably go now."

"But-"

"Kiyoshi is probably very tired," he tried to point out.

Idate seemed to finally notice that he couldn't start picking a fight with Uchiha with his son and his teacher to witness it. His son was his priority and he would have to get him to safety first, it also didn't look like the Uchiha was going to do anything to Kiyoshi's teacher. The blonde man didn't look worried, so he reluctantly decided to leave. He gave the teacher a small nod and took Kiyoshi by the hand and walked away slowly.

Naruto let out a heavy sigh when he saw the detective and his son leave, his heart had been beating a mile a minute with all that tension. He turned and fixed Sasuke with a glare, while the other man just gave him a bored look. As if he hadn't just almost caused a major blow-out between himself and a detective.

"Do I have to be worried about that?" he asked, referring to Idate.

Sasuke didn't reply at first and then gave his usual 'hn' grunt. Which only made the blonde seethe. "Don't 'hn' me teme, I know what they mean."

The raven's dark eyes softened as he took a step forward taking Naruto's hands into his own; he looked deep into Naruto's blue eyes, hoping the man could hear the sincerity in his voice. "Trust me Naruto, there's nothing to worry about, I mean it dobe," he added when he saw a flicker of doubt in those blue eyes.

Naruto gave another sigh, his shoulders sagging in relief. "Okay," he said with a nod.

Sasuke gave him an earnest smile, "Let's go home and have some dinner."

Naruto arched an eyebrow, "You actually cooked?"

The raven chuckled, leading his blonde out of the school ground and towards the waiting car. "Maybe takeout from your favourite noodle place? Ichiraku's."

The blonde couldn't help but grin. "Sounds like a plan," he exclaimed happily, getting into the car.

"Good," said Sasuke getting in beside him. "And when we get home we can have a proper talk."

Instantly that grin was wiped off the blonde's face. "Crap," he whispered under his breath.

Yet Sasuke heard him if that smirk was anything to go by. "I'm not gonna talk you out of working, but there are a few things we need to discuss. Maybe your own car, then there's security…"

"You're not putting bodyguards on me again," the first few weeks after they had come back Naruto couldn't go anywhere without an escort. He got to know Kakashi very well during that time (although he wished he didn't), and some of the kyodai (big brother) like Juugo and Suigetsu. They weren't bad exactly, Juugo was just too quiet, but Suigetsu spoke enough for the both of them. He was the one who constantly called Naruto 'big sister', something that he did not appreciate.

"You can't go around on your own, it's too dangerous," Sasuke insisted, and Naruto knew what he meant.

Sasuke was a yakuza and he had plenty of enemies, enemies that would use the most underhanded tactics to get to Sasuke. Even if that meant hurting him to get to Sasuke. It wasn't as if Naruto didn't know about the ever-present danger, but he didn't want to be coddled all the time. He was a grown man after all. He also knew that he couldn't dissuade Sasuke when he has set his mind on something. The blonde sighed heavily and rested his head against Sasuke's broad shoulders.

"Alright, but only one, and I pick Juugo," he replied, nuzzling into Sasuke's side.

The raven wrapped his arm around him, pulling him closer, and nodded.

After a quick stop at Ichiraku's for some takeout, they drove back home, but as soon as Naruto walked through the threshold Sasuke was on him, kissing and groping. It had been so long, and even the delicious call of ramen was not enough to distract him from his lover's heated touch. Ramen forgotten on the floor Sasuke had him pinned against the wall, his mouth sucking on his pulse point. Marking him in an almost primal way. He moaned when Sasuke pressed his knee between his legs, grinding against his growing erection.

"You know," Sasuke mouthed against his collar bone. "We haven't done it on the couch in a while."

The blonde gave a shuddered gasp, his hips meeting Sasuke's own rhythm. His skin felt like it was on fire, it had been so long since he had gone without Sasuke's touch. He was right, they hadn't done it in a while on the couch, that needed to be rectified now. With some effort he leaned towards the other's man's ear and with a seductive drone whispered, "Fuck me," and then bit his lobe.

The raved hissed, he pulled away. He gave his lover a stern glare; quickly he reached round to the smaller man and grabbed those firm globes, pulling the blonde up into his arms. Surprised Naruto held onto Sasuke's shoulders, his slender legs coming around Sasuke's waist. The disorientation didn't last long, and Naruto couldn't help but giggle as he was moved towards the leather couch so they could re-christen it.

"You're going to ride me," Sasuke said as he sat back on the soft upholstery, with Naruto sitting on his thighs.

Naruto pouted, but Sasuke only gave him a smug smirk. Not to be outdone, Naruto reached down between his legs, pressing his palm against his clothed groin. He smirked at the hiss Sasuke released; expertly he undid his buttons and zipper then reached between his legs inside the slit of the boxers to free his budding erection. He mouth salivated when he felt the warm thick organ resting in his hand, his thumb tracing a particularly large vein on the underside of his cock. The tip of his head an angry red, copious pre-emissions leaking from it. With a small grin Naruto pressed a digit against the leaking tip, spreading the liquid around the engorged head.

Sasuke groaned at the contact, but didn't stop the blonde from his careful ministrations, just watching through dark slitted eyes as he watched Naruto work on his member. Rubbing him slowly up and down, he still remembered how hesitant the blonde had been at first. So shy and delicate; but look at him now, his hands gripping his hard cock, grinding the organ against his clothed one. Cheeks red, his breathing shuddered and shallow, blue eyes slightly glazed, the perfect picture of seduction. Suddenly he stood up and shimmied out of his slacks before he kneeled down between the raven's spread legs. A hand held up in a beckoning gesture.

"Lube?" the blonde asked without coy.

The raven smirked and reached into his top pocket and took out a small sachet, Naruto couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. "You were so sure of your chances?"

"Can you blame me for being hopeful?" he replied.

Naruto couldn't help but snort, "No."

He tore open the packet with his teeth and covered his right fingers with the cool liquid before squeezing the rest of it out on Sasuke's dick. Then he smeared his fingers and then reached behind him and pried his cheeks apart one handed before pressing a digit inside his puckered entrance. Sasuke couldn't look away from the sight of his lover preparing himself, his movements slow and deliberate. He was putting on a show for Sasuke, arching his back just so that he could glimpse those long fingers entering that oh-so-tight heat.

Not that he needed to look, he knew exactly what was happening there. The puckered entrance stretched and gaping, slick with lube, as each finger went in and out. It was a sight that was burned into his memory. He licked his lips, his own hand coming down and spreading the lube over his penis. His dark eyes never leaving the blonde's glazed blues ones.

It was too much; with a growl he gathered Naruto up in his arms and placed him on his lap again. "Ride me," he ordered.

"So impatient-ah!" he gasped when he felt the tip of Sasuke's erection rutting against his tender hole, the bulbous head catching against his tender rim.

"Just a sec," Naruto reached behind himself grasping Sasuke's slippery cock and slowly positioning it against his hole, and then slowly pressed himself down. His body readily accepting Sasuke's hard organ with little pain. The raven hissed as the tight heat encased his hard organ, oh how he had missed this feeling.

It had been a while, but Naruto knew what he wanted, he held onto Sasuke's broad shoulders and then raised himself slowly up and down. He groaned, his thigh muscles quivering under the pressure as he continued. The blonde tried to angle his hips, wanting Sasuke to hit that special spot inside of him but not being able to. He ground himself down on his hard member, his sweaty head resting down against Sasuke's hard shoulder. He wanted more, but his legs couldn't gain enough purchase on the leather couch.

"S'ske, I need more…" he moaned out between shallow thrusts. "Please…"

Sasuke didn't say a word, simply grasped onto the blonde's plump ass cheeks and pried them apart slightly to give him better access, then raised his hips to meet his thrusts, instantly hitting against Naruto's prostate. The blonde moaned loudly , his back arching at the pleasure zapping up his spine. Sasuke always knew the right way to fuck, constantly hitting that bundle of nerves inside him.

"More!" he shouted, his nails digging tightly into Sasuke's shoulder, and he was more than happy to comply.

With one swift movement he turned them over, pressing his lover against the sofa and thrusting into him hard. He held him down as his throbbing cock hit against the over-sensitive prostate, his greedy hole sucking his cock in deeper inside. Sasuke could feel how Naruto's whines grew louder, his lover turning into a sloppy mess. The blonde was close, the muscles tightening almost painfully around him; finally with a loud scream he came, ropes of thick liquid spilling from the tip and splattering across his abdomen. The erotic sight was enough for Sasuke, and with one last thrust he spilled himself deep inside his twitching lover.

His arms started to shake, and he slowly slumped down, resting himself on top of his lover. They stayed like this trying to catch their breaths, but Sasuke wanted to get cleaned up. When he tried to move Naruto's arms come around him, holding him back down, his member still inside being squeezed by the blonde's ass. He hissed and laid slowly down against his lover.

"No, I wanna feel you for a bit longer…" he murmured sleepily.

Sasuke sighed, but didn't do anything to protest, they both needed this. A small smile fluttered across his face, he finally had his Naruto back.

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